Then Sings My Soul

So, we go into Texas Roadhouse and it's 70 degrees and I'm in a sleeveless shirt, jeans and flip-flops. We come out an hour and a half later and it's 52 degrees.

That is all.

PS: I know my pictures are broken. My host died. I will fix. kthx.

In that holler back in the woods
Where the country folks got it good
Homebrewed, homegrown
Where the wild seeds 'a get sown
It's a blast from the past
All the cowgirls shakin' their sassafras
Let out a howl if 'ya feel like 'ya gotta
If you wanna go on back to the holler
Holler back

I kept thinking of this song while I was gone to all the conferences, so in a futile effort to get it out of my head, here it is.

So... Tropical Storm Edouard. French name, French personality. Total wimp. Now, I AM thankful it wasn't a bad one, but dude - the media needs to quit hyping these things up like they're gonna blow us all away. People won't believe them when there actually is a serious one on its way. The reporters were going around TRYING TO FIND high water to stand in and report about. It's retarded. HOWEVER - we did get a bunch of rain, which has been desperately needed here for a month or so now. Conroe is under mandatory water rationing (which doesn't really affect Jason and I, since we're in an apartment) and a burn ban.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I was expecting to go to work, as it was just raining - but the weather people kept saying it was going to get a lot worse around 11 am. So I called Pastor Quail, who told me that they were going to close the school at 11. I decided not to go in, just in case it did get worse and I wasn't able to get home from church. Jason went in to work for about 2 hours and I went back to bed (glorious sleep!!). He came home at 11 and we piddled around until about 2:30, when I decided to clean our tub/shower and he decided to go back to work, since there was practically no wind. Just heavy downpours. And that was basically it the whole day - lots of good rain, but nothing else. No flooding, either, since the ground has been so starved for water.

We (as in the Conroe area) actually had a random pop-up severe thunderstorm with a tornado and all on Sunday evening. The wind was upwards of 35+mph gusts, the power went out, and the rain was so hard we could barely see to drive (we were on our way to Jason's parents' house during the worst of it). There were trees and power lines down everywhere, and a tornado was spotted in Cut-n-Shoot. This 45-minute storm did more damage than a whole days' worth of a tropical storm. Gotta love gulf coast weather...

Today is my last day of work for this week, as tomorrow we're heading down to my parents' house for Bekah and Zach's wedding! YAY! Thursday is various preparations and the rehearsal, Friday is the wedding, Saturday we'll be hanging with the Stuckwisch clan and Sunday there will be a mini Theiss reunion with my dad's siblings at Grandma's apartment. I'm really excited about the whole shebang, since we'll get to see tons of relatives and friends - not to mention the fact that my sister's getting married! I, by the way, am a bridesmaid, so I have a gorgeous dress (in cranberry) and really awesome sparkly shoes that I get to wear. Yay for getting to dress up!

Look for a post about our new puppy soon... :-)

EDIT: Anecdotes from the life of a small-town church secretary, #1: The Chairman of the Board of Christian Education and Youth Chairman and general fix-it guy (yes, one person) of our church just came in and told me and the pastors "Don't flush the toilet, don't cut the water on, don't do ANYTHING with water until I come back and tell y'all to." I really need to learn to quit holding it 'till the last minute.

Our Paschal Lamb, that sets us free,
Is sacrificed. O keep
The feast of freedom gallantly;
Let alleluias leap:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Again
Sing alleluia, cry aloud: Alleluia! Amen!

I can't even begin to describe the Higher Things conferences this year. Absolutely wonderful. As exhausting as it was to do all three, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Here's a few thoughts...

Scranton
+ Pastor Kind rocks! He was the head of worship at Scranton. Chris Loemker, the organist, also rocks. Hard.
+ Karaoke Thursday night after Divine Service. See this video to see why. (Yes, that is St. Mark's youth group, Pastors Borghardt, Bamsch, and Buetow - and Stan Lemon.)
+ The amazing capability, friendliness and helpfulness of Fran Mancuso and her staff at the University of Scranton. We are SO going back there.
+ REALLY BIG SQUIRRELS. Not fat - just LARGE.
+ Meeting Jon Kohlmeier! Awesome, dude!
+ St. Mark being there. My youth group!

St. Louis
+ St. Francis Xavier College Church. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it.
+ This quote:
Buetow: "So, are you going to swing the incense reverently?"
Stuckwisch: "Yes. And then I'll send it crashing to earth to unleash the horsemen of the apocalypse and the seven plagues."
Buetow: "Oooh, the kids will love that!!"
+ Seeing Pr. Stuckwisch! We're almost related!
+ The best dorms ever. We even had washers and dryers IN OUR APARTMENT. Sweet. (Not that we used them.)
+ Getting to drive back and forth to the airport - I love driving!
+ Duuuude, Kohlmeier's in the room!
+ My cousins being there!

Irvine
+ THE BEACH! THE OCEAN! SWIMMING!
+ ANNA!
+ Shiner with the Cwirlas
+ Cwirla's slideshow of photoshopped pictures of HT staff members. Hilarious!
+ Pat and Tasha. Awwwww!
+ The best internet out of the three. Even though I used it less. Heh.
+ The gorgeous weather
+ Zion being there! With my widdle sister Hannabutt!
+ Pirate Christian Radio! Arrr.

All Three
+ Pastor Borghardt and Pastor Buetow's AMAZING plenaries. They did GREAT!
+ The sermons of Borghardt, Buetow, Cwirla, Kuhlman, Kind, and many more that I can't remember right now...
+ Hanging out with my HT family for three weeks. Hannah, Erin, Sandra, Borghardt, Buetow, Sue, Gina, Stan and I went to all three. Whew!

I realize that isn't anywhere near a good summary, but it's just about all I can get out right now. And I won't even promise a better summary, because I know I'll never get around to it. ;-)

And looking on to next year... SOLA! San Antonio and Grand Rapids. AWESOME!

By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not;
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt Heav’n obtain.

With my arms tight holdin' us together
Breathin' deep
Driftin' like a feather in a stream

Then I touch you on the shoulder
Feel your skin soft underneath my fingers
And I know we'll never get to sleep

You wink, I laugh 'cause we know
A little hug leads to a foot rub
Then a hot tub
Then a french kiss on a bear rug
Do you like it, do you like it
How about this
Wanna try it?
Oh, oh, oh - I'll take that as a yes

One year!

I love my husband... :-)

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What's real and going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I've had this song stuck in my head ever since I heard Jason Castro sing it on American Idol... it's so... haunting. And it sticks with you. I think Jeff Buckley's version is the best, but if you want another good one, go look up the Allison Crowe version on youtube. She's pretty dang good.

So I made my first attempt at baking homemade bread today. It turned out beautifully!! I'm sooo pleased with it. Jason loves it (which was the point in the first place - to get him off of store-bought preservative-ridden gross stuff), and it tastes, looks and smells amazing. So I'm terribly happy! (Thank you for the recipe, Rachel!!!) Now the question is how long will it stay fresh...

House hunting is disappointing as of yet. We've looked at a couple... they're either too small, too expensive, or too much work needs to be done. We figure if we're supposed to buy a house, the right one will come along... but so far we haven't found it. I really want to be out of an apartment. I feel the need to paint and put nails in the walls and play my music (with BASS) super loud and not worry about neighbors. Oh, and I want a dog... and a baby. Gee I sound selfish. ;-) Honestly, this apartment complex has been great so far - other than the uncontrollable neighbors, the management has taken care of everything we've needed. I'm just used to a house and... anxious, I suppose, to get back into that type of situation.

Jobs, etc, are fine... HT's getting busier as we get closer to the conferences (woohoo!! This year's gonna rock!).

I'm sure everybody who (still) reads this has heard that Issues, etc has been canceled... but Pastor Borghardt's post is a really good one to read. http://blog.higherthings.org/borghardt/article/3483.html

That's all for now, folks... y'all have a blessed Holy Week!

Commandancy of the Alamo
Bexar, Feby. 24th 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world –

Fellow citizens & compatriots — I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna — I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken — I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch — The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country –

Victory or Death.

William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt.